Freetown-Lakeville Regional School Committee picks superintendent

The Freetown-Lakeville Regional School Committee Monday night picked John E. McCarthy of Duxbury as the regional district’s new superintendent.

The committee set aside last week’s split vote over who should get the job to choose McCarthy, but not without initial disagreement.

Lakeville School Committee member David McQueeny started the ball rolling by nominating McCarthy, and the superintendency union of which he is a member voted in unanimous agreement.

The Regional School Committee, the other board responsible for the decision, at first split its endorsement. Committee members Lorraine Carboni and Charlene Shea voted first for another candidate, Elizabeth A. Zielinski of Ludlow, who is assistant superintendent of the Quaboag Regional School District in Warren.

Seeing that they were the only dissenting votes, they moved to make it a unanimous endorsement of McCarthy.

Superintendent search committee members contacted McCarthy by cell phone after the vote.

“He enthusiastically accepted,” McQueeney said.

The School Committee entered into executive session to negotiate the salary McCarthy will be offered. The position was advertised at $125,000 to $150,000 annually.

McCarthy will begin on July 1. He will replace interim superintendent Louis E. Rodrigues, who is also the school department’s business manager.

McCarthy is currently principal of Hopkinton High School and is a former teacher at Old Rochester Regional High School. He has a total of 26 years of educational experience.

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